Cristiano Ronaldo will try to outshine Lionel Messi on his return to Old Trafford when the two best players in the world clash in a friendly between Portugal and Argentina on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Real Madrid forward Ronaldo and Barcelona striker Messi are locked in a battle to prove themselves the top player on the planet and their latest showdown comes on the former home turf of the Portugal icon.<\/p>\n
Adding spice to their rivalry with Spain’s two superpowers is the speculation that they aren’t on good terms off the pitch either.<\/p>\n
Whatever the status of their personal relationship, the duo have deservedly become serial trophy collectors over the last decade, with team and individual prizes hoovered up on a regular basis.<\/p>\n
Messi has won the Champions League three times and Ronaldo twice, while Messi has six league titles in Spain and Ronaldo three with Manchester United and one with Real.<\/p>\n
Between them they have won the past six coveted Ballon D’Or contests, awarded to the player voted the world’s best by managers, players and journalists.<\/p>\n
Argentina star Messi has been voted the winner four times in that period and has come second to Ronaldo the other two years.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo hopes to add a third gong this year, and few would disagree if he pipped Messi and several contenders from the German World Cup winning team.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo has 18 league goals already this season, while Messi has — by his standards — a modest total of seven, although he was voted player of the tournament at this year’s World Cup<\/p>\n
Also in Ronaldo’s favour, he became the record goalscorer in European Championship qualifying and tournament history with his strike in a 1-0 victory over Armenia at the weekend.<\/p>\n
That was his 23rd goal in the competition, surpassing the previous high mark set by Jan Dahl Tomasson of Denmark, and his 57th in 117 caps for Portugal.<\/p>\n
“I have done what I have to do. I have won major titles, I have beaten other records, and I now have to wait calmly for the votes,” he said.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford will be his second since he left United for Madrid in 2009.<\/p>\n
In March 2013, he scored the goal that knocked his old club out of the Champions League in front of still-adoring United fans.<\/p>\n
But poor ticket sales for this week’s friendly suggest United supporters aren’t quite so keen to pay tribute to their former idol on this occasion.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo is still looking forward to the chance to return to Manchester however and he said: “It’s special going back to Old Trafford and I hope the stadium will be with me.”<\/p>\n
There will also be a return to Manchester for former City and United striker Carlos Tevez<\/p>\n
Tevez, now with Juventus, came back into the Argentina squad last week after three years in exile and played in last week’s 2-1 friendly win over Croatia at West Ham’s Upton Park.<\/p>\n
AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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